Real Housewives of New Jersey

Well, after some quiet time where their federal fraud trial is concerned,Teresa and Joe Giudice are keeping their attorneys busy in the new year. And while the attorneys are hard at work, the Giudices were off at play.

Joe's attorney filed a motion late last week, hoping to split Joe and Teresa's charges into two separate trials. Joe is hoping to take the blame for most of Teresa's signatures, etc., from the way it reads. They're also asking for information from the prosecution as to what particular pieces of unedited footage from The Real Housewives of New Jersey will be used against them.

There were 53 pages of fascinating reading in all, but we tried to trim it to the basics for you since we can't upload the entire tome. (boo, we know!)

I've lost track of how many times this case has been rescheduled but perhaps prosecutors are waiting to learn the results of the Real Housewives of New Jersey star's federal fraud case before going forward with another trial.

Holy Gorgantuan Mansion! Melissa Gorga and Joe Gorga are going all out on their new home!

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Gorga showed off the plans for their new house via Instagram this week. Joe wrote, "Here it is!! Coming soon. Waiting on permits!" And all we can say is "wow" and "thank God I don't have to clean that!".

Joe was grinning ear to ear as he flashed the sketches for their new dream home. One follower had the right idea when they said "I thought it was a mall!".

Now that the RHONJ is no longer paying her mortgage,Jacqueline Laurita is selling her home!

The former Real Housewives of New Jersey star is listing the 5,7000 square-foot Franklin Lakes home for $2.85M. The couple, who almost lost the home to foreclosure last year, paid $1.72 million for the manor-style home in 2001.

Unfortunately for Jacqueline she is asking far more than the appraised value. The property is assessed for $2.2 M and carries a $34,000 PER YEAR property tax rate.

While I think that all the Real Housewives of New Jersey fancy themselves as actresses (some of that drama has to be fabricated, right?), it seems that one certain relative of a housewife actually has the acting chops to make it in theater. After a successful run off-Broadway in both My Big Gay Italian Wedding and My Big Gay Italian Funeral, Melissa Gorga's (the one who fancies herself a pop star…coincidence?) sister Kim Pirrella is returning to St. Luke's Theatre for a double encore.

According to a press release we received at RT, "My Big Gay Italian Wedding premiered at the Actor's Playhouse in November 2003. On September 12, 2009, a revised and updated version of the play played a benefit performance at the St. George Theatre in Staten Island; the new production was produced by Dina Manzo of The Real Housewives of New Jersey and was moved to St. Luke's Theatre in Manhattan in May 2010 for a sixteen month run. During the run, the show hosted some major celebrities including Jersey housewives Caroline Manzo and daughter Lauren, Jacqueline Laurita and daughter Ashley, Teresa Giudice and Dina Manzo. Tabatha Coffey also proved to be a huge supporter of the show by making multiple appearances and hosting a hairstyling contest back in 2011."

Well, it seems that it's not just the Fresco Italian restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey that is disappointing members of the community for allowing Bravo to use it to film scenes for Real Housewives of New Jersey. Local fans of the show were also disappointed…not in the eatery, but in the women dining inside.

Last week, the restaurant posted (and then promptly deleted after negative feedback) some pictures of Dina Manzo and Teresa Giudice eating at Fresco surrounded by lights and cameras. Fans who were able to catch the Facebook status before it was taken down rushed to the restaurant in hopes of seeing their favorite RHONJ ladies. You see where I'm going with this, right?

There's a rumor circulating that Kathy Wakile's cannoli-pimping enterprise is about to go bust!

Now that she's been reportedly downgraded on Real Housewives of New Jersey, rumors surfaced, saying her soon to be published dessert cookbook Indulge is being dropped by publishers because she won't be able to promote it through the show!

Rumor Fix shares that this is one rumor that is untrue. It's an interesting rumor considering Kathy's book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon with a prospective release date of September 2014.

Well, we all know that Real Housewives of New Jersey can be slightly, um, polarizing, right? In general, I think fans have the strongest feelings for this group of women, whether they are loyal to the core fans or staunch haters. The ladies of the Garden State can certainly bring out the emotion in their viewers!

That was made abundantly clear recently when a local restaurant allowed Bravo to film scenes for the show. The Fresco Montclair was hoping that posting photos of filming on its Facebook page would bring with it some publicity…and boy did it!